For the final paper, I would like to look into and study how Whedon’s time jumps or foreshadowing plays out in his works, particularly revolving around Dollhouse. The fact that there are 2 episodes inter mixed with the current timeline, it works in an odd fashion of following the story and twists. Plot lines, twists, and other elements into mingle between the two time frames in interesting ways and can lead down a rabbit hole of how Whedon as a director, writer, and show runner was able to envision two drastically different worlds stemming from the same main event. Other elements of Foreshadowing or time lapses can be found in other elements of his work from Buffy to Firefly and examining how these function within the theory of Whedon as a sole author can build some interesting arguments about Whedon as a whole. We get hints at Dawn’s appearance beginning with Season 3 and Faith, we get hints to major events several times in Buffy and Firefly and Dollhouse.

Expanding on this, I would like to also examine how these time gaps also function to interact with fans and the creative outlets they create within the diegesis. How the stories are confined, blown open or expanded based on hints or future events that you know happen based off of the literal time jumps within Dollhouse.

For our project, we chose to explore the back story of Sid, the antagonist in Toy Story, one of Whedon’s first Hollywood projects. As an essential character to the plot line, this character receives relatively little to no back story. The viewer is first introduced to Sid as the crazy neighbor that destroys toys for fun. Andy’s toys are already scared of Sid stating “Oh no! Not Sid!” We thought it would be interesting to explore where Sid developed his destructive nature and establish the basis for the toys’ fear. We hope to provide an explanation for Sid’s psychological state, his family dynamic and how his backstory perpetuates the plot of Toy Story. We chose Toy Story because as a group, we had the most experience. We loved it, we grew up with it, and it seemed like a world in which we could explore in a manner that would be similar to something Whedon would do.

We chose a story board as our medium because we thought it would be the most effect method for reimagining Sid’s story, mimicking Pixar’s animation process. We were able to accomplish a foundation for how Sid became the antagonist while simultaneously creating a Whedon-esque parallel between Sid’s destruction of toys and the psychological payback the toys get on Sid. We decided that Sid’s troubled behavior was caused by his strained relationship with his abusive, alcoholic father and his constant comparison to his seemingly over privileged younger sister, Hannah.

We explored this family dynamic through multiple birthday sequences to create a contrast between Sid and Hannah’s upbringings. For Sid’s birthday, we establish a young, only child who doesn’t appreciate his parent’s gift because it wasn’t what he wanted. His father verbally abuses him for being selfish and unappreciative, creating tension and a basis for resentment. In later sequences, we explore Hannah’s birthday, demonstrating a very different, loving and supportive father. This comparison helps to show why Sid’s actions escalated at the party and what caused him to become the character that he is.

As a piece of fan fiction, we see this story as a way to expand the Toy Story universe by blurring the lines between an antagonist and a sympathetic character. As a viewer, we are never given a chance to feel for Sid in the way we would for other characters such as Andy or Woody. In the meantime, while waiting for another expansion of the Toy Story universe, it is within our fandom right to explore Sid as a sympathetic and perhaps redeemable character. In doing this, we were able to highlighted him in a way that might spark many possible future story arches.

First of all, I’m in love with this thing. I can’t stop watching it. But that’s rather, well, besides the point. If we look at the content and the world, it fits with Dr. Horrible (you’ll be able to accurately compare this on Thursday, but this is a fantastic interpretation of the world created by Whedon. If we look at the content, basically everything you need from Act 1 is there: the freeze ray, the Laundromat, the letter from Bad Horse, the saving of Penny, etc. The story is told through a medium usually reserved for video games: tid bits of action and story through dialogue. What this lacks tho is the lyrics to the songs (which in 8-bit are just as amazing!) for the most part, which is the core portion of Dr. Horrible. I mentioned it in class about how musicals explore the depths of characters as you cannot lie in song. Well, Dr. Horrible is what I call the anti-musical (more discussion to happen in my presentation) so you miss a lot of the sub-text and plot lines Whedon builds into the lyrics. Freeze Ray sets up a lot of the struggling love life of Dr. Horrible, but you get an awkward 3-step “I love you hair” comment from your character, but what you don’t get is the back story of why this happens in the text. Overall, this type of interpretation is more creative than it is explorative in the world of Whedon. At it’s core, it seems to want to bring two fandoms together (retro gaming and Whedon/Dr. Horrible) in a fun and cheery way. And let me tell you, I’ll be watching the entirety of this 8-bit rendition as soon as I possibly can.

Joss Whedon is all about parallels in plenty of his work, especially his television series. In this scene, where Xander enters his class late and is called out by the teacher is a thematic parallel to the final battle that will take place in Pt. 2. Xander’s representative of multiple players within the battle. The first, being that of the vampires (or even Angel): the late comers to the party are still expected to help and attain the final goal. The class’s goal is to determine the word chosen by the teacher in hangman, similar to the events leading up to the final battle… The scooby gang must determine what the Mayor is planning and how to fight against it. Xander’s choice of the letter e is a bit more abstract but can be seen as representing those who flee (or exit the ceremony) when the battle begins. They’re attacked and potentially are killed. The teacher laughs at Xander’s choice with one of those cartoonesque evil laughs mumbling “they always go for the e,” similar to how the Mayor knows they’ll be some that attempt to exit the ceremony immediately during his ascension. As a trait of Whedon, he is a master of foreshadowing in unexpected ways (Dawn is coming… dream sequences, etc.), but if you look back at his work after knowing what is going to happen, it is nearly impossible to deny the facts of what is seen before hand that leads up to an eventual event.